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Commentary

Reward Based Advertising Improves Engagement

According to a new research report, Exploring the Role of Value in Mobile Advertising, conducted by Millward Brown, in partnership with SessionM, brands have an opportunity to break
through low favorability of mobile advertising by offering more tangible value in their marketing content.

The study postulates a value exchange equation to assess mobile advertising, finding
consumers were more likely to engage when brands offered them tangible value in exchange for their time and attention.

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THE EQUATION:

USEFULNESS: Perceived
usefulness of an outcome multiplies the amount of time that a consumer is willing to invest to engage with brand... PLUS

ENGAGEMENT: The consumer’s willingness to spend
time with the brand increasing the chances that they engage with the advertising again... EQUALS

TANGIBLE VALUE

And the report defines “tangible
value” in a mobile ad experience as including:

Worth the time invested; “How much time does it take and is it worth it?”

Useful to me or my family; “Is
it something I would use or be interested in?”

Rewarded audiences are over twice as likely to interact with brands, says the
report. After seeing an in-app ad, 34% of rewarded users clicked or interacted with an ad, compared with only 15% of mobile users who had not participated in reward-based advertising.

Receiving
a reward expands a consumer's consideration set, says the report. After seeing an in-app ad, 26% of rewarded users considered purchasing a brand, compared with 18% of mobile users who had not
participated in reward-based advertising.

Rewards change the equation, concludes the study. The study found that
reward-based ads succeed when the creative execution is timely, relevant and chosen by the consumer, and when the reward is predictable, tangible and also chosen by the consumer.

75% of
consumers say their favorability towards a mobile ad depends on how the ad was presented to them. Putting an ad in a natural break is the difference between being seen as a friend or foe.

92%
of consumers say they want to choose the type of reward they receive. It’s not a ‘reward’ if its not something they want.

68% of consumers prefer to know for certain
they’ll get a reward, rather than be surprised.

N.B. Though the professional study is conducted in association with an organization disposed to the concept of reward based
advertising, the premise, the tested hypothesis, and the published findings provide an argument for the further commercial exploration of the concept.